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scanR Help
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What does scanR do?
scanR is a service that helps you capture information contained in whiteboards, documents and business cards. scanR lets you use your mobile phone’s camera or digital camera to clean photos of whiteboards, documents and business cards, extract the printed information, and get a digital file in your email, contact manager, or fax. You can also upload snapshots of anything you want to save and share online.
What languages and countries are supported with scanR Business Cards?
Currently, scanR can read US and Canadian formatted cards in English and can read Japanese formatted cards in Japanese. scanR will capture names, phone numbers and email addresses from some other locations. We are working on additional language and country support.
Why didn't I receive an activation code?
If you are using the scanR Mobile application, an activation code is not needed. The application will automatically activate the first time you sign in with your user name.
When you send your image by MMS or e-mail, scanR will try to reply to you through SMS or e-mail. If you do not receive an activation code this way, please let us know at help@scanr.com. Some mobile carriers do not support reply messages and you will need to contact us to get an activation code, or try downloading scanR Mobile.
When inquiring about activation codes, please include your mobile number and the name of your mobile carrier so that we can locate your activation more quickly.
Does scanR do OCR?
scanR does perform Optical Character Recognition (OCR) on documents and business cards. For documents, the text is saved both in the result PDF file and in a text (.txt) file that can be downloaded in “My Scans”. For business cards, the recognized text is saved as a vCard (.vcf contact).
How do I cancel my scanR subscription?
For scanR subscriptions purchased through your mobile carrier: please refer to them for cancellation instructions.
scanR monthly subscriptions purchased through www.scanr.com can be canceled online. To cancel, go to the Subscriptions page and click on your monthly subscription. On the subscription page, click "Cancel Subscription," and then "Cancel Subscription" on the confirmation page. The canceled subscription will no longer be present on the Subscriptions page.
If you purchased a subscription through m.scanr.com, it can be canceled on your phone. To reach the Subscriptions page from m.scanr.com, click "Settings" and then "View" under "Subscriptions", or type "http://m.scanr.com/Account/Subscriptions.aspx" into your phone's browser. On the settings page, click "Cancel subscription" and follow the on-screen instructions. The canceled subscription will no longer be present at http://m.scanr.com/Account/Subscriptions.aspx.
What can I scan?
Currently scanR is optimized for letter-sized or A4 paper documents with printed text or handwritten notes, whiteboard drawings, and standard business cards. Other photos, such as pictures of friends, pets, and landscapes, can also be uploaded to scanR as "snapshots".
How do I send a picture to scanR?
After you take a photo with your camera phone, you can send it via scanR Mobile, MMS (also called Multimedia Messaging, PIX Messaging or Picture Mail) or email to scanR.
To send a scan with scanR Mobile, you can mark and upload the photos from the program’s gallery. All jpeg images in the memory card or phone memory that are large enough to scan will be displayed in the gallery.
To send a scan with MMS, take a photo, select the option to send the photo via MMS, address the message to doc@scanr.com for documents, wb@scanr.com for whiteboards, bc@scanr.com for business cards, or s@scanr.com for snapshots and send it.
If you are using a digital camera, be sure to save it as a JPEG (.jpg or .jpeg) file and send it via email to scanR. We are working to support other file types in the future.
What is the "Quality" number I see next to my scan?
The quality score is a measure of the sharpness of the content in a scan. It is designed to give a consistent score regardless of the content in the photo. You might see a score anywhere from 0 to 100. In general, a quality score of 90 or greater is very good, 75-90 is mostly in focus, and 40-75 means the scan may be hard to read. If you see a score between 0 and 40 for a document scan, there may be motion blur in your photo, and scanR may not be able to recognize any text.
How can I improve the quality of my scans?
The quality of your images is dependent on the capabilities of your camera and how you take pictures. Some cameras take better images than others, even if they have the same resolution. Your camera's quality depends on resolution, lens quality, and compression software.
To maximize the quality with your camera, try these tips:
  • Be sure your camera is set to its highest quality and resolution.
  • Fill your view finder with your subject, so that as much detail as possible is captured.
  • For documents and business cards, if the photo is not in focus, try using Macro or Close-up mode on your camera settings.
  • Hold still. Try holding your camera phone with two hands to stabilize it while taking the photo.
  • Take your photos in well-lighted areas if possible.
  • Turn off your camera’s flash when photographing business cards. Business card ink is often reflective.
  • If your photos are always blurry in certain spots, try cleaning your camera’s lens with a soft, dry cloth.
  • Photograph your business card with its text upright within the frame of your image when possible.
Can I scan more than 1 picture at a time?
Yes, scanR will process multiple photos in a single scan. There are four options:
  1. Download scanR Mobile for your phone. You can upload 10 photos at once with scanR Mobile.
  2. Some camera phones support sending more than 1 photo in a single message. Just take the photos, create a message, and add all of the photos to the message.
  3. Send the photos as attachments in email. Most email accounts will allow several picture attachment
  4. Upload scans directly to scanR using "Upload Photos" in the My Scans gallery.
I received a message titled, "Out of focus", but I received my document anyway. Why does scanR do that?
If you see this message, it's just a warning that the photo is likely very blurry. We will still process the photo, but the result may not be readable or searchable.
I received a message titled "Try again". Why did I get this message?
If you see this message, your image may be too small. The minimum size for whiteboards is 1 megapixel (1144 x 858). For documents and business cards, we recommend 2 megapixels (1600x1200). Sometimes, your camera or email software will shrink the photo from your original settings. Be sure to check that the photo you send to scanR is large enough.
Some online email websites and mobile operators compress pictures, losing some of the image detail and making the file size quite small. To work around this, attach your image in e-mail as a "File," rather than a "Picture".
All document or whiteboard images sent in a group will be processed in the same scan. Business cards can be sent in groups, but will be processed as individual business cards.
I did not receive an SMS message from the "Check Your Mobile Phone’s Camera" page.
If a phone number has changed carriers recently, we may not be able to route the SMS message through the Check Your Mobile Phone’s Camera page. You can visit m.scanr.com in your phone’s browser to learn more about your camera phone’s capabilities and download scanR Mobile.
How can I scan documents in my language?
scanR will base your default scanning language on your e-mail address or the encoding that your messaging client uses. To change your scan language, you can change the "Language" setting on your scanR Settings page. If your scans seem to be missing accented characters, or the text uses the wrong language, this setting may correct the problem.
How can I scan documents in color?
scanR processes documents in black & white or color depending on the size, quality, and color detected in the picture. Pictures of documents are processed in color if they have vivid colors, good focus, enough light, and are 2 megapixels or greater. 
If you believe your document should have been processed in color, make sure that the picture is 2 megapixels (1600x1200) or larger, and not overly dark or shadowed.  Shadows may disguise colors or be interpreted as noise, which will not be scanned in color.
I didn't receive my scan. Where is it?
By default, scanR saves a copy of all your scans to the "My Scans" gallery. You can automatically send copies of your scans to your preferred e-mail address by entering the address and changing the "Email delivery" settings to "On" in your Settings page. You can also turn off My Scans, but remember that doing so will delete all your saved scans.
When you want to receive your scans via e-mail, you may need to check your Junk E-mail folder and mark the email from scanR as "Not Junk," or add service@scanr.com to your address book. A reply of some type is always sent in response to messages to doc@scanr.com, wb@scanr.com, and bc@scanr.com.
In the "My Scans" gallery instead of seeing my scan result I see "scanR is processing your image..." Why is this?
scanR takes some time to process your images into scan results, depending on the size of the image and the number of images in your scan. You may see this message if you go to My Scans right after sending photos to scan. Click your browser’s refresh button or the "Refresh" link on the scan’s page after a minute or so for single images and up to 15 minutes later for 10 – 15 images.
How do I search for scans in "My Scans"?
You can use the search box found in at the top of the gallery in My Scans to search for specific scans. You can search for the text within a scan, tags or messages added when a scan was sent, or even the date a scan was submitted.
The search does not start type specific, so if you search for someone's business card from the whiteboard gallery, you will still see your results. The results can be divided by type, to simplify your search. If you wish to see only the whiteboard, document, or business card results for your search, you can click on corresponding link after the search has completed.
To reset your gallery view, you can click on the "All Scans" link.
I cannot search for my document.
If you have a problem searching for documents using the search in your My Scans gallery, please let us know via the "Report a problem" link on the gallery page.
If you have problems searching for documents using Windows, you may want to check which version of Adobe Reader and Windows Search you are using.
If you have Windows Vista or Windows Desktop Search 3.0 for Windows XP or Windows 2003, make sure you upgrade your Adobe Reader to version 8.0 or later. This will install Adobe's latest PDF search filter ("ifilter"), and should allow you to search again.
Where can I send a fax?
scanR currently sends fax to most phone numbers in East Asia, North America and Western Europe. scanR may block certain premium phone numbers and countries. You can send a fax with scanR any time of day.
How do I send a fax?
When sending a fax using scanR, use the international form of the fax number, minus your international direct dialing prefix. For example, a fax to the United Kingdom (country code 44) should use +44XXXXXXXXXX as the number format. If your fax fails, check the number and be sure a fax machine answers.
To send a fax using scanR Mobile, select your photo as a document and choose "Send to Fax" from the menu. If you include a note, it will be added as the title of the fax.
To send a fax using e-mail, just send photos of your document to doc@scanr.com and include the fax number in the subject or body of the message.
You can also fax from the scanR.com website or the scanR mobile website at m.scanR.com. Find the document you want to fax in My Scans and enter the fax number in the "Send a fax to this phone number" box.
How do I send a scan to another email address?
To send a scan to someone else from scanR Mobile, just select "Send to E-Mail" when you upload your photo. You can send your scans to multiple recipients in the same upload.
You can also e-mail your document, whiteboard or business card photo to scanR and include the person's email address in the subject or body of the message. scanR will send to only one recipient per message.
How do I share scans?
When viewing a scan in My Scans, select the "Share" tab in the blue bar to the right of the scan. An invitation link to view the scan will be sent to all the addresses you enter in the "Email address or mobile phone number" box. When a given invitee has signed up for scanR and has viewed the scan you shared with them, their email address will appear in the expanded view of the "Shared Files" list.
How do I stop sharing scans?
You can click "Stop Sharing" when viewing a scan you have shared to remove it from others’ view. If you no longer wish to see a scan someone has shared with you, you can delete it like a normal scan.
I received a message from scanR saying someone sent me a document.
To view shared scans, you need a scanR account.
You can sign up online for free. The scan will be automatically added to your My Scans when you click the "View this online" link.
How can I see which scans I’ve shared?
You can tell what scans you are sharing and with whom by using the "Shared Files" pane in My Scans. When looking at a scan, you can see with whom you have shared a scan by clicking the "Share" tab on the right of the scan. If you do not see the "Share" tab, then the scan has been shared to you.
I received a shared scan, but I do not see a way to share it with someone else.
Scans that you received from another scanR user show up in your My Scans gallery but cannot be shared with other users. For such scans you may view the scan, photo or text, and download the photo, text, PDF, or vCard.
scanR Mobile keeps showing a message like "Allow application scanR to read user data?" How do I stop that message?
Messages about allowing scanR Internet access and access to user data can sometimes be seen with the Java version of scanR Mobile. This error message is from your phone, not scanR, and is due to the permissions settings for your phone or mobile carrier. On many phones, you can stop the messages by changing the permissions for the scanR Mobile application.
For example, on Sony Ericsson phones, go to the File Manager, then Applications, and select, but do not open, scanR. Use your right soft key button to select "More", then "Permissions" to set the items like Internet access, write user data and read user data. The best setting for these permissions is "Never ask" or "Ask once."
On many Nokia phones, permissions can be changed by going to the "Application Manager" in the "Tools" menu and selecting scanR. From there you can select "Options" and "Suite Settings." The best setting for network access and reading user data is "Always allow" or "Ask once."
If you do not have settings like "Ask once," "Never ask," or "Always allow," your phone or mobile carrier may not allow you to use scanR unless you purchase scanR from them. scanR is available from KDDI, AT&T, Sprint, and Boost Mobile. We are working to get agreements with more mobile carriers soon.
Why might scanR Mobile not be able to connect to the Internet?
scanR Mobile does require Internet or WAP access to upload images for scanning. Sometimes, a phone may have more than one "access point". This is common for Nokia phones. When setting up scanR Mobile, make sure you choose your operator's recommended access point for applications. If you have already set up scanR, you can change this in the Symbian application by selecting the Options key, and the Settings menu. The Access point in Use option will list the connection you have selected and allow you to select any other connection you have saved.
In the Java version of scanR Mobile, be sure that the application has permission to access the Internet.
If scanR Mobile for BlackBerry cannot connect to the scanR server, check with your company IT department or BlackBerry service provider to see if your phone uses BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES). If your BlackBerry uses a BES server, a BES policy may be blocking internet access to programs like scanR Mobile. This policy can be changed by the BES administrator.
If scanR is still unable to connect, and scanR Mobile was not acquired through your mobile carrier, make sure your carrier allows you to use 3rd party Internet applications. There are some carriers that only allow specific programs or certain kinds of internet traffic to use their networks.
Why does scanR Mobile appear to be corrupted on my Nokia phone?
There are two different scanR Mobile programs for S60. Using the S60 3rd Edition installer on an S60 2nd edition phone or using the S60 2nd Edition installer on an S60 3rd edition phone will cause an error.
For phones that do not use S60, you may be able to use the Java version of scanR Mobile, if your phone supports Java and JSR-75, a J2ME specification for file access.
Why does scanR Mobile appear as "invalid" on my Java phone?
If you see a message like "Invalid Application" or "Invalid Certificate," and your phone is a supported phone, check your phone’s clock. If the date is incorrect, scanR Mobile’s certificate will not be recognized as valid. If it is correct, your carrier may block applications like scanR Mobile. If you see "Error 909" when installing scanR on a Sprint phone, try downloading the program from Sprint’s application catalog. A special certificate is required for many of their phones.
You can also try sending a photo to scanR via MMS or email.